To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many school leavers are expected to come onto the job market in each of the next five years; and how that compares with the latest year for which figures are available.

It is projected that 510,000 school leavers in the academic year 1988–89 will be available for employment in Great Britain and that the corresponding numbers for the following two years will be 480,000 and 460,000. Projections for later years are not yet available. The latest year for which estimates are available is the 1984–85 academic year. An estimated 620,000 young people leaving school in that year were available for employment.